Re: Debian on an Indy?

[Mike Hill <mikehill@hgeng.com>]

>>>>> Ryan writes:

    Ryan> I just purchased an older Indy Workstation and would like to
    Ryan> put Linux on it, however, I can't seem to find a disto that
    Ryan> supports it.  I am willing to ry new things out but need the
    Ryan> software.  It uses the MIPS R4600. Thanks if you have any
    Ryan> info.  -Ryan

Hi Ryan,

First, go to the SGI/Linux site
(http://oss.sgi.com/projects/linuxmips/) and install the Hardhat
distribution.  For reference read Ralf Baechle's HOWTO
(http://oss.sgi.com/projects/linuxmips/mips-howto.html), subscribe to
the SGI linux-mips mailing list and check the list archives
(http://oss.sgi.com/projects/linuxmips/archive/).

There is no official Debian mips dist yet, but lots of
package-building for mips (big-endian such as SGI) and mipsel
(little-endian) machines.  Guido Guenther has put up some mips
packages (see the debian-mips list archives) and has documented the
tricks he needed to complete the Hardhat installation.

After you have Hardhat installed, update your development tools and
start compiling things (maybe someone can detail what's required to
build dpkg?).  Keep the list posted regarding your problems or
progress.

Exciting things have been happening lately with debian-mips and
linux-mips in general: some recent excitement has surrounded the
un-breaking of binutils and glibc.  I've had Linux running on my Indy
for a while, but have just recently got it going on an Indigo2.

HTH,

Mike